Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced the instauration of a nationalist memorial to the victims of a "genocide committed by Ukrainian nationalists" during World War Two.
Tusk was speaking connected the day of what Poland calls the "massacre" successful Volyn, the past German-occupied portion of Poland, present successful Ukraine. Warsaw says immoderate 100,000 taste Poles were killed by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) successful 1943-45.
Warsaw and Kyiv person for decades been astatine likelihood implicit the tragic events, successful which thousands of taste Ukrainians were besides killed by Poles.
Many successful Ukraine spot the UPA arsenic heroes who fought for Ukrainian independency against the Soviet service arsenic good arsenic Nazi Germany and Polish authorities.
Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was stripped of Poland's highest authorities honour implicit his determination to sanction a Ukrainian subject portion aft the UPA, amid a diplomatic row betwixt the 2 countries.
Speaking connected Saturday, Tusk said: "Truth is our work toward the victims, but besides a mode to flooded a achy past for the involvement of a amended future.
"Memory cannot beryllium the servant of hatred. The reply to nationalism cannot beryllium much nationalism," the Polish premier curate said, urging Ukraine to "embrace this truth" if the state wanted 1 time to articulation the European Union.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki said helium had to enactment - but stressed that the enactment would not interaction Poland's enactment for Ukraine arsenic it continues to combat against a full-scale Russian penetration launched successful 2022.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha responded to Warsaw's determination by calling it a "strategic mistake".
Three erstwhile Ukrainian presidents aboriginal returned their White Eagle awards to Poland successful solidarity with Zelensky.
In his video code precocious connected Saturday, Zelensky said that "representatives of the Ukrainian authorities took portion successful associated prayers with representatives of the Polish state" successful some countries to commemorate the victims of the Volyn killings.
"Ukraine is doing its portion to honestly found the facts astir those killed successful those years.
"We indispensable not hide that now... Ukraine and Poland person 1 communal threat, and this is simply a mortal menace to our independence, to our states, to each city, to each village, and this menace is called Russia," the Ukrainian president said.
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